Elevator and Escalator Accident Lawyer NYC

New York City has more than 70,000 elevators and escalators, and virtually all of them are serviced under contract by a third-party maintenance company. That contract is the centre of every case: it determines who was responsible for inspection intervals, who logged the earlier complaints, and who ignored them. An elevator claim without the maintenance file is guesswork; with it, liability is usually clear.

• Misleveling: the car stops above or below the floor, causing trip and fall injuries — the single most common claim.
• Door strikes: a failed detector edge or photo-eye closing on a passenger, an arm or a stroller.
• Sudden drops and hard stops: brake, governor or controller failure causing spinal and knee injuries.
• Entrapment: injuries and psychological harm from prolonged confinement or unsafe self-rescue.
• Escalators: sudden reversal, missing comb plates, gaps trapping shoes, hands and children's fingers.

The elevator in my building has been faulty for months

Prior tenant complaints, 311 records, Department of Buildings violations and building super logs establish notice — the legal element landlords fight hardest.

The doors closed on me in an office or hotel

The building owner, the property manager and the maintenance contractor can all be liable, and each usually has separate insurance.

I was injured on a store or subway escalator

Retail escalators fall on the operator and maintainer; subway escalators bring in the MTA and its 90-day notice of claim deadline.

The maintenance and service agreement, five years of repair tickets and callbacks, DOB inspection history and violations, the elevator's controller event log, and lobby camera footage. We also inspect the equipment with an elevator engineer before repairs alter it.